David Hine to introduce new Batman ally

David Hine has revealed plans to add a new member to the Batman family in a two-part story this December.

The Azrael writer will team up current Batman Dick Grayson with the newly returned Bruce Wayne in a special story arc told through the annuals of Detective Comics and Batman.

The arc sees the duo head to Paris as part of the new Batman Inc initiative when they become embroiled amidst a number of assassinations and are forced to seek the help of a local character.

"I wanted to introduce a French character who gets away from the stereotype. So we have a young guy from the suburbs of Paris who is into free-running, or Parkour," Hine explained to CBR. "He goes by the name of Nightrunner, he's an amazing athlete but he's grounded in the reality of the less-privileged areas of Paris.

"I love using existing characters from the DC pantheon but there's nothing like the challenge of coming up with new and original characters," Hine added.

The writer also confirmed that Kyle Higgins will be providing a back-up feature in one of the annuals that will explore the new character's background.

Detective Comics Annual #12 is published December 8 and Batman Annual #28 is published December 22.